Four Israelis released in spectacular Gaza abduction rescue operation, dozens dead

Israeli forces rescued 4 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, but Palestinian officials said scores were killed in the raid, sparking outrage amid faltering ceasefire efforts.

Israeli troops have attempted a spectacular hostage-taking rescue mission in the Gaza Strip; four hostages who the Hamas militant group had kidnapped for eight months were successfully released. However, the operation was costly, and Palestinian officials reported a high number of deaths from Israeli air strikes with over thirty people dead.

The hostages were identified as Noa Argamani, 26 years, Almog Meir Jan, 22 years, Andrei Kozlov, 27 years, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 years old, were kidnapped by Hamas militants in October while at the Nova music festival in the south of Israel. They were evacuated from two structures in the Nuseirat refugee camp area of the central Gaza Strip after furious battles between Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen.  

”This is one of the most heroic and extraordinary operations I have seen,” noted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The Israel Defence Forces stated that ‘exact intelligence’ was used in the operation and one Israeli officer was killed in the operation.

While families in Israel were rejoicing the freed hostages, the raid was met with anger in Gaza. At least 70 bodies were counted in two hospitals in the area, and the media office of Hamas said more than 210 people were killed in Israeli strikes. The images captured indicated burned structures, collapsed buildings, and hospitals full of many injured and dead persons including the young ones.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the incidents as a “bloody massacre” and urged for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, “Reports of another massacre of civilians,” are appalling, and added: The bloodbath must end immediately.

In response, Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh stated that Israel could not impose its decision on the group through force of arms. He pledged that Hamas would not accept a truce unless it gets security on ionPalestinians’ terms.  

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The hostage rescue operation is happening at a time when negotiations for a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas have stagnated as the two sides continue to fight for the eighth month in Gaza. The subsequent release of the hostages stresses the heavy losses of the Palestinian civilians, which seems to provoke further escalated tensions.